Banking on the General Election

Winning the money race isn’t just about who raises the most cash. It’s also about how they spend it and what position they’re in should they go on to the general election. By the year’s end, Democrat Barack Obama raised nearly $97 million for the primaries—more than any other candidate—but had only $13.4 million of that left to spend, compared to the $17.9 million that opponent Hillary Clinton had at her disposal before any voting began. Clinton would also be in the best financial position among Democrats for the general election if she should be the party’s nominee. So far she has raised $20 million for the general election, compared to Obama’s $5.2 million. Among Republicans, Mitt Romney brought in $88.5 million for the primary (about 40 percent of it from his own pocket) but had only $2.4 million to spend going into 2008, and he had nothing in the bank for the general. Republican Ron Paul ended the year with the most to spend among the GOP candidates on the primary—$7.8 million left after raising $28.1 million last year—but nothing in the bank for the general. In addition to Romney and Paul, four other candidates still in the race at the end of the year had not collected a penny for the general, including Republicans Mike Huckabee and Alan Keyes and Democrats Dennis Kucinichand Mike Gravel. Donors can give $2,300 for each election for a total limit of $4,600. Candidates who don’t go on to the general have to go through the exercise of returning that money or asking donors’ permission to use it for another federal campaign, one reason, maybe, why a number of these candidates didn’t focus on fundraising for November.

General vs. Primary Receipts: Total fundraising amounts for 2007 reflect what has been raised for both contests.

Candidate Name

Party

Money Raised for General

Money Raised for Primaries

Money Left for Primaries

Barack Obama

D

$5,200,248

$96,970,420

$13,426,000

Hillary Clinton

D

$20,055,591

$95,596,770

$17,892,283

Mitt Romney

R

$0

$88,499,686

$2,431,447

John McCain

R

$2,159,778

$38,942,400

$788,650

Ron Paul

R

$0

$28,101,264

$7,839,421

Mike Hucakbee

R

$0

$8,986,532

$1,896,446

Contributions are based on data available electronically from the Federal Election Commission on Jan. 31, 2007, including donations from individuals and PACs to federal candidates, parties and committees. Data for Mike Gravel and Alan Keyes were not available at the time of posting.

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